What If I Never Was?
by Intyalle
Summary: One day, Zim disappears... it's as if he never existed in the first place. What will Dib do now, with his arch-nemesis gone?
1. The Day He Disappeared

**CHAPTER ONE  
****The Day He Disappeared**

_He hadn't even told me he was going._

Dib lay sprawled out on his bed, staring dejectedly at the ceiling. Unable to bring himself to move. Unable to do anything but think the same thought, over and over.

Nothing. Not a word, after years of rivalry, years of foiling each other's plots. Just... gone. He'd even been in Hi-Skool just yesterday, scowling at everyone who looked down at him, swearing they were accusing him of being short with their eyes. Of course, nobody really had the option but to look down at Zim anymore. Unlike the rest of them, he hadn't grown any since arriving on Earth, so he was now noticeably shorter than all is classmates. Still nobody noticed anything was wrong, though, besides mocking him for his lack of height. Sometimes, Dib really did swear the Earth _wanted_ to be conquered.

He'd been up all last night plotting his newest... well, plot. He'd been preparing his invisibility suit for another run, pondering how to stop GIR or the house computer from detecting it this time. It always paid to return to the classics, on occasion. He figured he might've finally cracked it this time, despite the occasional weird noise interrupting his train of thought in the middle of the night. He figured it was just Zim, up to his usually antics. All the more reason to finish quickly.

Apparently not.

As soon as he'd gotten to Zim's street... nothing. The gap between two houses where Zim's house used to be... was just a gap again. There was no sign there'd ever been anything there. Not even any damage from where it had been attached to the houses either side. He'd even tried knocking on the doors nearby, asking what had happened to the house there. The response he got was basically the same from all of them.

What house? Who is Zim? Get away from me and stop babbling you crazy man. Dib had finally had to leave after one of them had finally called the police. Figured they'd call the police on _him_, but had never done so for any of Zim's crazy, obvious and _loud_ schemes. Or even just his insane, hyperactive robot.

Surely, though... I mean yeah, never calling the police indicated a certain - and rather high - level of obliviousness, but _surely_ they remembered Zim even a little bit. There used to be a whole house there! Apparently not, though. Nobody remembered a thing.

It was as if Zim never existed.

That thought unnerved Dib.

"He _did_ exist," he muttered vehemently to himself. "He _did_... didn't he? I mean, we've been fighting each other for _years_... he must've wiped their memories. Yeah, that's what it must be. He already proved Irkens have that level of technology. That must be it."

It must be. Because if it wasn't... no. Dib wasn't mad. He _knew_ aliens were real, Zim was real. Okay, he might _sound_ a bit crazy sometimes, like when Zim was piloting Mars. But he wasn't _actually_ crazy.

He wasn't.

He couldn't be.

* * *

No, I'm not entirely sure where this is going yet. Please feel free to suggest some names in the reviews :) I'll try keep updated as I can, but inspiration comes and goes. Please don't hurt me for it :P


	2. Dinner of DOOM

Yeah... I just added "of DOOM!" because I couldn't think of a better title. This is IZ, one has to add a token doomy chapter title somewhere anyway :P Looks like this fic will probably end up split a lot, so expect a lot of relatively short chapters - though who knows, some later ones might be longer. Also expect a few chapters settling in before things really start happening. My friend Lex assures me this chapter is cute, but adds nothing... this is my first IZ fanfic though, and only my second time even dipping my toes into the water of fanfiction. Sp between that and being used to writing novels and therefore having a novel-size run up... sorry. Please don't kill me if this takes a while to go anywhere :P I'm trying to establish stuff. You will see. Assuming I don't screw it up.

Don't worry, things _will_ start happening.

Or... er, they should :P

So yeah... ONWARDS!

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO  
****Dinner... of DOOM**

"DIB!"

Dib flinched at the pounding on his door. Gaz sounded annoyed with him, but she always sounded that way. If she was abusing his door too, though, it might be a good idea to answer before the door gave and she started abusing _him_ instead.

"What?" The door didn't open, but he could almost imagine Gaz fuming on the other side.

"Dib, I told you dinner was ready an HOUR ago! Now I've run out of levels to beat on this game, so get your butt downstairs already and put in your acceptance code so we can eat!"

Oh yeah, that's right. Dib could vaguely remember hearing shouting from downstairs, but he'd been too wrapped up in his own thinking to pay attention. Even now, it just seemed like too much effort. His life for the past five years had been defined by his archnemesis and now, overnight, he was gone. Just like that. What else was there?

He glanced nervously at the door. Well, there was still what his sister could do to him, and quite possibly would if he didn't come down at _all_ tonight. Dib might not feel much like eating right now, but Gaz did. So, rubbing his eyes and shoving his glasses back on, he wandered over to his door and opened it.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming."

"You look like crap." Nothing else, just that. It amazed Dib she could even see that fact, much as she squinted.

"Gee, thanks, little sis."

Gaz shrugged and headed down the stairs, satisfied that Dib was on his way. It wasn't that she missed the sarcasm, it was just that she didn't care. Dib supposed he really couldn't expect any more from her, and followed her down the stairs with a sigh.

It didn't take long before he could hear the dull, repetitive "Do you love me? Do you love me?" coming from the kitchen. Honestly, why did Dad even bother? For a brief moment, Dib toyed with the idea of what might happen if he pressed no instead this time, but quickly decided that whatever else might happen, the results would almost certain include Gaz throttling him. At best. Not really worth it.

It would be more accurate to say Dib fell into a chair than that he sat in it, and he rubbed at his temples a bit. He was just plain tired, inside and out. The scowl this elicited from Gaz, though, hurried along the moment and he reached out to press the button.

"And I love you too, kids!" The recording hadn't changed in years. Kind of depressing.

The screen showing his father's face handed them their food and flew off, leaving silence to descend between the two siblings. Gaz, usually quiet anyway, was busy eating. Dib just pushed the food around his plate, not hungry.

"If you're going to torment me with having to sit through that stupid show of yours again, you'll have to eat faster than that. It starts soon," Gaz pointed out in a bored voice. Dib glanced up at her, surprised. It wasn't like her to point something out like that. For a brief moment he thought he might've seen a flash of concern in her eyes, but it was kinda hard to tell when they were always practically closed. On one hand, it was Gaz... but on the other, she _was_ still, ultimately, his sister. So who knew?

"I don't think I'll be watching it tonight, Gaz."

"Why not? Going on another one of those dumb missions with your imaginary friend, Zig?"

Dib frowned. Gaz had called Zim a number of things; imaginary had never been one of them before.

"No, I... no. And Zim's not imaginary. I'm just not really in the mood tonight."

Gaz shot him a sharp glance, then shrugged. "Whatever," she said after a beat, sliding off her chair and wandered off, presumably to find another game to play on her handheld. Dib gave up on the idea of eating and pushed the bowl away, trudging back up to his room.

"Why would she call Zim imaginary? She's met him before! I mean, yeah, mocking me for calling him an alien or whatever, but he _does_ exist..." Dib paused a moment. "Man, I have _really_ gotta stop talking to myself."

"Dib, SHUT UP!"

"Sorry!" he called back, quickly making his way up the rest of the stairs and locking himself up in his room once more.


	3. HiSkool

**CHAPTER THREE  
****Hi-Skool**

The rest of the weekend had passed unusually quietly for Dib. He'd been expecting more epic battles with Zim, planned for it, and the absence left things feeling... hollow, and empty. Still, he couldn't skip Skool just because the Earth _wasn't_ going to be destroyed anymore, so he'd hauled himself out of bed next Monday morning just like every other Monday.

He walked with Gaz, but gave her a wide enough berth to make sure he wouldn't be bothering her at all. Apparently that wasn't enough, though, because at each lull in her game, Gaz would shoot him an unreadable glance. Dib tried to ignore it and look somewhere else, but the feeling of her eyes on him every so often still made him squirm.

"What?" he finally snapped, as Gaz looked at him again.

"You're quiet. _Too_ quiet."

"What? I thought you _wanted_ me to shut up."

Gaz shot him another side-long glance before turning back to her game again. Dib sighed as the silence continued to stretch. Clearly, she wasn't going to give him any more than that. At least she'd stopped looking at him now, immersed in a particularly difficult part of her game.

As they approached the grounds of the town Hi-Skool, Dib lifted his eyes from the ground to watch everyone milling around outside, eyes scanning the crowd for any sign of Zim. If he was there, though, the bell rang before Dib could spot him. As the loosely spread crowd packed into a tight herd through the halls, it became even more impossible to spot any one person. Unless they just happened to be standing right in front of you, that is.

As his age-mates filtered into the first class of the day and spread out to take their seats, though, there was still no sign of the tiny green boy. Dib slid into his own seat, eyes scanning the classroom...

When suddenly, he jumped up with an unmanly shriek, causing the class to erupt with raucous laughter. Rubbing his backside, he glared down accusatorily at his chair. Right there, in the middle, someone had put a tack.

"I'll get you for this, Zim!" he roared, feeling suddenly revitalised to know his arch-nemesis was alive and well after all. Not to mention up to his usual, petty tricks.

His outburst only made the class laugh louder, though, elicited groans from some as well.

"Not this again!"

"Hey Dib, I think Zim went _that_ way!"

"Dib is crazy, Dib is crazy!"

"We're tired of your _stories_, Dib, go tell someone else!"

Dib paused, and blinked. "What do you mean, stories? He's right..." He trailed off, frowning as he caught sight of Zim's desk. Zim's _empty_ desk. "What... where is Zim? He should be sitting right" there! He must be here to have put the tack on my seat..."

"That's desk's been empty all _year_, Dib."

"Yeah, ever since Jake left."

"_I_ put the tack on your seat, not your invisible friend!"

Dib looked around the class slowly, registering the looks on everyone's faces. Mostly scorn, ridicule... pity from some. "What do you mean? He's been in class with us for five years!"

"Once again, Dib, there has never been anyone in this class called Zim," the teacher said as he walked in, having obviously caught the tail-end of the discussion as he neared the room. He glared at Dib, but after Ms Bitters or Gaz have glared at you, nothing else really works anymore. "Now sit back down in your seat, or I'll send you to the counselor's office. Again."

Dib was used to being called crazy, sure, but... this was different. Everyone at Skool had always been amazingly ignorant and oblivious regarding what Zim _was_, but even they had never failed to notice the _existance_ of someone who'd been in their class for the past five years. He might consider it a mass prank organised against him, but Mr Beaty was notoriously harsh on pranksters, and he'd never join in.

Dib felt his previous burst of energy draining out of him, leaving behind a sort of sick, empty feeling. He kept looking desperately around the classroom, but the laughter had died away now, and all that was left was accusatory glares and the general feeling, heavy on the air and growing heavier, that he was making a spectacle of himself. Not even a single pair of eyes lit up with recognition, or support, or knowledge. They really didn't remember Zim. Not one of them. They all seemed to remember his rants and schemes... but not their focus.

Feeling uneasy, Dib awkwardly sat back down in his chair, sweeping the tack off first. He glanced back over to Zim's desk, and for a moment felt a little light-headed and dizzy. Zim's desk? It was so easy to remember the desk lying empty so long now, gathering dust...

Dib shook his head vigorously, clearing the cloudy feeling from his brain and drawing a few stares back to him. _No,_ he thought vehemently. _Zim _is _real. I know it._

But somehow, the thought sounded a little weak. Even to himself.

* * *

Have a slightly longer chapter.

Thank you to OhHowDelightfullyDreadful for reviewing and giving me the idea for the title I did eventually decide to go with, and thank you to those others who have also already reviewed or story alerted my story :) I get email notifications and they make me warm and fuzzy inside.


	4. Ooh Shiny!

**CHAPTER FOUR  
****Ooh Shiny!**

As the day wore on, Dib got more anxious and desperate, feeling lost in this completely Zim-less world.

"Surely _you_ remember Zim, Zita! He ended up going to the dance with you two years ago!"

The only response he got was Zita bursting into tears. One of her friends glared at him, arms wrapped loosely around Zita's shoulders.

"She didn't go with anyone two years ago, _Dib_. Her boyfriend broke up with her three days before the dance." And then they were all gone before Dib could defend himself.

Again and again he tried to find someone, _anyone_ else who remembered Zim. But nobody did. By the end of the day, he'd gone beyond desperation into a kind of dull acceptance. He even started to wonder if they were right. _Was_ he crazy?

The final bell of the day startled him out of his thoughts, making him jump. One or two people looked over, and a few others rolled their eyes, but Dib had been twitchy all day. It had lost its interest a few hours ago now.

Slowly, and without talking to himself for once, Dib gathered his stuff together and picked up his backpack, shrugging it onto one shoulder as he made his way out of the classroom and out of the Skool. As he got out the main front doors, he heaved an exasperated sigh upon realising he had, apparently, not moved quite fast enough for Gaz's tastes and had already been left behind. Resigned, Dib started on the long trudge back home.

He let his legs carry him where they would, operating on autopilot, immersed in his own thoughts... or trying not to be, anyway. The late afternoon sun beat down on him harshly, making him sweat a little under the ever-present trenchcoat, and making him feel light-headed again.

When he stopped walking, he looked around, puzzled. Why was he _here_? This wasn't home. Something about it seemed vaguely familiar, like he'd been in this spot a million times before, but... he couldn't for the life of him remember anything special about this spot. He was standing on the sidewalk, halfway between two houses at the end of a perfectly ordinary, plain cul-de-sac. He frowned at the slight dizziness he could feel, and decided he'd sit down in the shade for a bit before he made his way home, get out of the sun long enough for the strange feeling to pass.

As he went to sit down against the side of one of the houses, though, something caught his eye. A spark of light, shining off something in the bushes. Probably just shining off the inside of a candy wrapper or something... it didn't really look like a piece of litter, though. And, after all, it was shiny, and shininess produces a certain desire to investigate in all humans, to one degree or another. There couldn't be any harm in taking a look.

Getting onto his hands and knees, Dib shuffled closer to the bush, peering in where he'd seen the brief spark of light. It was hard to spot, but... there! There it was. A piece of silvery metal, too solid to be a wrapper or anything and smoothly curved. Reaching a hand in cautiously, Dib grabbed a hold of the metal, surprised to discover that whatever it was part of was a lot heavier than he'd expected and, from the feel of the resistance, larger and more tangled.

After a few tugs, though, the bush finally released its hold on whatever it was, sending Dib flying at the sudden loss of resistance to his tugs. Standing up and brushing himself off, he took a look at his prize.

It was... it was... the fog cleared from his mind and he suddenly remembered why he had been here before. Zim's base used to be here. And in front of him...

It was GIR. Or... it used to be GIR. There was no light behind the eyes, or chestplate, neither his usual bright cyan nor the harsh red of duty mode. Even worse... Dib tried not to gag at the hollow, sick feeling in his stomach as he eyed GIR's... what used to be GIR's... chassis.

It was horribly bashed in, beaten... what he'd seen in the bush had been a smooth curve of a leg, but he could see now it was very nearly the only smooth part left. It was no wonder the robot's eyes were dark and lifeless. The damage was horrendous. Surely even Irken technology couldn't function that mangled. Although... maybe, if he could repair GIR's chassis... the damage to the head didn't look _too_ bad, so maybe his AI chip or whatever was still intact.

That thought brought a rather different, even more sickening thought to mind. If the essentials were undamaged enough that it might be possible to revive GIR... maybe it was because all the rest of the damage was done first, the damage to the head nearly an afterthought. Had the insane little robot been aware when this had been done to him? Whoever had done this to him. Which definitely raised the question of who had done this to him. I mean, yeah, GIR could be a right pain in the ass sometimes, always shrieking and running around... but who could so maliciously destroy such a cute, endearing little robot?

Dib knew GIR could be dangerous, no mistake, and was most definitely only insane at best, but that really didn't stop him being cute and endearing. The same way a playful, clumsy lion cub is, even when you know any day now it'll be just grown up enough to decide it doesn't want to play anymore.

Whatever had happened here, Dib was starting to doubt that Zim had left on his own. GIR might be a pain, and ruin many of Zim's plans, but Dib knew that when it came down to it, the alien was just as attached to the insane little robot as Dib himself had become. If he left to return to his own kind, there was perhaps a chance he'd leave GIR on Earth, a place he clearly enjoyed being and where he couldn't destroy anything Irken, but this... Zim wouldn't do this. Dib didn't think he'd misjudged the green boy that badly... if nothing else, if Zim were going to take out his anger and frustration on GIR, surely he'd have done it long before now.

Carefully, Dib reached down and picked up the severely damaged chassis, arranging it carefully in his arms, almost cradling the empty shell that had once housed so much sheer energy. That hopefully would again, if he had anything to say about it.

In the back of his mind, he knew the gentleness was not just sentimentality for GIR's sake. Over the past few days, he'd been starting to seriously doubt his own sanity, and in some ways he held not only a beaten robot, but the beaten last hope for himself. Here was proof that Zim had been here. He'd take GIR home and he'd fix him, activate him again, and then he'd _know_ he wasn't insane.

Let them try deny _this_.

* * *

Oh, how kind of me :P

Of course, they will be able to deny that... I'm not that nice. It was going to be in this chapter, but it felt better to set my end point on GIR being found instead of after taking him home and the resulting conversation with Dib's family. It just seemed to make a bad transition point and a much better pause point.

The rating has been put up just to err on the safe side, the K was really more placeholder anyway. It may or may not be raised again, but probably not for a bit.


	5. I'll Fix You

**CHAPTER FIVE  
****I'll Fix You**

GIR's body seemed much heavier, unpowered, and Dib was sweating profusely by the time he'd carried it all the way home, arm muscles screaming for a rest. It was hard to believe this had once latched onto the back of his head and ridden around unnoticed. Maybe some kind of anti-grav? Glancing down, he wondered if it would still work at all. Something like that would surely be in the main body, and, well... there wasn't a lot of internal space left there. Whatever caused it may be crushed beyond repair. At least. Beyond Dib's repair. He had no doubt that Zim could fix it, if he were here. For all the random failings in many things he used, the little alien seemed to be amazingly innovative.

Dib struggled for a few moments to open the door when both arms were quite thoroughly occupied holding what was left of GIR. Eventually though, his fingers snagged enough of a hold of the door handled to turn it, and he pushed the door open with his shoulder.

Gaz glanced up at him with a bored expression, wondering what all the fuss she could hear was about. When she caught sight of the battered chassis in her brother's arms, her eyes widened.

"So you finally found him, huh? What happened, he get hit by a train?"

"I... I don't know. It wasn't a train, though, I found him over by Zim's base... where it used to be, anyway. I think someone may have taken Zim... I don't know why they;d bash GIR up so much though."

Gaz rolled her eyes and turned back to her game. "Probably he just annoyed the wrong people and someone finally worked out how to get the spastic thing to _shut up_. Maybe this time you can make a proper AI chip for it. Honestly, Dad should have just deactivated it as soon as he realised what you'd done."

"What _I'd_ done? I didn't make him. It's Zim's robot, not mine."

"Whatever. If you've forgotten what you did last time, maybe I'll get lucky and you won't be able to do it again. That thing was always trying to eat my game before it ran away." Gaz shot the lifeless body a glare before taking her game upstairs into her room, almost as if she were slightly nervous the thing would spring back to life and try it again.

Dib stared after her, frowning slightly and very confused. Gaz _knew_ GIR, _and_ Zim, so why was she acting like none of it had ever happened. Had he dropped into an alternate universe or something? Surely he'd have noticed that, though.

Or maybe he really was... _No,_ Dib thought, stamping down on it. Doubting his sanity would do easily as much damage as actually _being_ insane. He had GIR. Zim had been here. He wasn't crazy.

His frown deepened, though, as the dizziness creeped into his head again. It was so easy, though, to see what Gaz had been saying. He could feel the memories sitting right there, if only he stopped to think about it...

With a growl, he shook out his head and the feeling passed once more. The heat must be getting to him more than he thought. Maybe he shouldn't have tried to drag GIR home all by himself without a single break to rest.

After taking a moment to catch his breath, Dib climbed slowly up the stairs to his room and spread GIR out carefully along the bed. He let out a breath in relief as the strain was suddenly taken off his sore and tired arms, and carefully shook them out as he flopped down into his desk chair.

He was going to need to go down to his father's lab and get some tools soon. He brushed his fingers along GIR's torse, travelling down all the dips and dents, frowning slightly in thought. Was he going to be able to re-shape GIR's chassis, or would he have to build a new one? He had no idea what technology had gone into making it, but his father had some relatively advanced tools, and the damage clearly showed there _were_ things that could change the shape. Dib hoped he wouldn't have to make a new body from scratch. It just seemed... wrong, somehow.

He sighed as he realised he'd have to take the little robot down to Dad's lab and just hope his father didn't notice what he was doing. Some of the tools he was going to have to use shouldn't really be used in a bedroom, and he had no idea what tools he'd need after the chassis was fixed. Going back and forth fetching more tools would probably draw more attention than finding a quiet corner to work in and staying there.

He glanced over at his school bag for a moment, dropped uncaringly on the floor. He had homework to do, and should probably do it, but... he looked back over to GIR. He knew the robot wasn't aware, wouldn't know and didn't care about the state it was in. Dib was aware, though, and thinking of leaving GIR in that state longer than necessary made his skin crawl with guilt. He was smart, he could afford a few days of doing homework just before class.

For now, he'd focus on getting GIR fixed.

* * *

Hooray for... basically a filler chapter, and going backwards in word count :P Ah well. Also hooray for more writing of chapters in lectures! Breaking here because we're about to have a bit of a time jump, since I'm not going to go through all the details of fixing GIR.

I'm not sure I managed to get the point across properly since I didn't feel comfortable handing Gaz the Exposition stick, even if that thing got passed around an awful lot in the show, but basically as far as she's aware, Dib himself made the robot, or at least the bits that make GIR, GIR. He did something wrong, though, and GIR came out completely crazy and ended up running away. I told you I was not a nice person to character. Also, I put way too many commas in that sentence. Ah well.

Once again I'd like to squee and thank those who reviewed or marked my story. These things make me a happy, happy writer. And occasionally actually *do* make me squee and/or clap. Fortunately there weren't too many people around this morning when I did.

I hope you appreciate lots of updates. I'm not sure why I'm managing to write this so quickly, usually I'm much slower. I should probably be spending the time catchingup on the recorded lectures I need to watch, but... well, that's boring and I don't want to do that :P So you get story instead. Yay!

I'm gonna stop rambling now. See you next chapter, possibly tonight but, if not, probably tomorrow (I'm in NZ so right now it's late morning).


	6. Reporting for Duty

**CHAPTER SIX  
****Reporting for Duty**

Dib winced as sweat trickled down behind his glasses and stung his eyes, clouding his vision for a moment. Swearing, he nevertheless used great care when putting down GIR's chip and the tools he was using to work on them before harshly wiping the sweat off his face with a sleeve.

It had taken two days just to reshape the battered chassis back to something resembling its original form, and even then it wasn't the smooth, shiny and flawless surface it used to be, just generally the right shape. There were still several smaller dents riddling the body, and the left arm was too mangled for Dib to repair. He wasn't even sure it would be capable of movement, if he managed to activate the little robot. He might just have to remove it.

Another two days so far had been spent working on GIR's chip to get it functioning again, and Dib thought he might finally be close. He hoped he was, because even with the insane robot's body right here, the constant assault from all sides was continuing to wear away his self-assurance. Not to mention, several times now – even while he'd been working on GIR – he'd had more of those dizzy spells during which even _he_ couldn't seem to remember Zim. Those had scared him every time, especially after just shaking his head no longer cleared it. He'd ended up dragging some ice down to the lab with him, which he stuck against his forehead or the back of his neck every time the feeling started creeping up on him. So far, it was still working to keep it away.

Not only that, but... he missed Zim. Even as an enemy, Zim was the only one who cared about him, or paid attention to anything he did, even if it was in a negative way. Not his scary sister, not his distant father and most _definitely_ not his stupid classmates. And truly, though they'd still been going through the motions of arch-enemies, lately things had become much less adversarial between them. Zim's plans had always been reckless and badly thought out, but recently they'd gotten somehow both more creative and less... serious. More like it was just a game, now, to come up with an interesting plot, instead of actually conquering the world. For Dib's part, he couldn't _actually_ remember the last time he'd seriously threatened the little green alien with dissection or turning him in. They still bantered and he still stopped Zim's plans, but many of the unnecessary threats had been dropped from their interactions, and a couple times now they'd defended each other against the school bullies.

It had been five years since they'd met, now, five years since Dib had finally found someone who cared about him even a little bit, and it was taking its toll on him now that person was gone. Even if nothing else was going on to put strain on his mental state – unfortunately not the case – Zim's absence alone would still have done significant damage.

Having GIR's body here helped keep things at bay a little bit, but Dib desperately needed someone to interact with, some living reminder that Zim _did_ exist, that he wasn't all alone in this.

And maybe, just maybe, GIR might know something about what happened to Zim.

Assuming Dib could get a coherent answer out of him even if he did.

Dib shoved his glasses back up his nose and grabbed the tools again, squinting in the harsh light as he tried to manipulate the tiny circuits of GIR's AI chip. The damage hadn't looked too severe, overall, as not too much attention had been paid to the robot's head, but that one sizeable dent had definitely hit the chip, with an unerring accuracy that suggested someone who knew exactly where the chip was and how much damage was needed to deactivate it. The overall damage _didn't_ look bad, no, but the circuitry in this little thing was just so _complex_, and the blow had clearly hit something important.

_There, I think that's got it._ Dib carefully put don the tools and chip once more, sighing and stretching out. _I hope that's got it,_ he thought nervously as he slipped the chip back into the slot where he'd found it. He'd already tried several times to get the robot going again, with no success.

Dib hadn't realised he'd been holding his breath as he tried once more to activate GIR until he had to let it go again, coughing and spluttering. With a growing feeling of dread, he looked over at the robot.

There was nothing. His eyes were still that dead, unlit black. Dib stared a few moments more, not even blinking. He kept staring, waiting for the tiniest spark or twitch, until his eyes watered and he was forced to close them.

Dib clenched his fists as a sudden rage washed through him, gritting his teeth as the feeling wrapped around his heart and held tight, filling him with the need to lash out at _something_. Lurching forward, he smashed a hand firmly against GIR's lifeless body, sweeping it off the table and onto the floor with a crash. Then, as quickly as it had come, with one last spasm, the rage left him. He fell to the floor, unconcerned with what he might land on, and started crying. The tears trickled silently down his cheeks, shoulders shaking only slightly, as he looked at the dead body of his only hope.

Between the direct blurring effect of tears on his vision and the streaks it left on his glasses, Dib almost missed it entirely. A slight flicker of cyan. He could hardly believe it, quickly rubbing the tears out of his eyes to stare hard at the little robot again. There! Another flicker.

The next time light shone behind those eyes, it wasn't cyan, but red. Dib's eyes widened, caught between amazement and sudden fear, as the little robot leapt to his feet.

"GIR, reporting for duty, SIR!"

* * *

Woo two updates in one day. Have enjoyment! And GIR!

And yeah... I'm mean, but I'm not _that_ mean :P Dib does get GIR back... and so do we!


	7. GIR

****Oh god... I have to try write GIR in character now XD Don't get me wrong, I love the guy, but I'm not sure I can pull that off.

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN  
****GIR**

Dib sat very, very still, not daring to so much as twitch a single muscle. His eyes were wide and trained on the small robot in front of him, watching fearfully as those harsh red eyes slowly scanned the room, eventually making their way to... him.

Most of the time, GIR was just annoying and cheerful... or perhaps just annoyingly cheerful. But in duty mode, the usually bright and friendly robot became a serious threat. A much more serious threat than even Zim himself. Fortunately, the time he spent in that mode was often fleeting at best... but that really wouldn't be much comfort if GIR decided Dib was a threat and shot him in the head before returning to normal.

Though it could have only been a second or two, the moment seemed to stretch on forever, bright red eyes boring into him and making him tense even further. When the moment was finally broken, it was by GIR.

"You are not my Master."

The cold, unforgiving tone, so unlike the GIR he knew, sent a shiver down Dib's spine – and not the good kind. He felt cold all over. What a stupid idea this had been. Hey yeah, let's reactivate my arch-nemesis' insane robot! Who may or may not remember having basically been tortured! Even at the best of times, GIR was seriously unpredicatable, and it finally occurred to Dib that this could, perhaps, have used some further thought instead of just jumping in.

"I-I'm sorry. I d-don't know w-what they did to h-him. I'm t-trying to find h-him too," Dib finally managed to stammer out, as the robot seemed to be waiting for some kind of response. Fortunately, that seemed to be the right thing to say, since the eyes immediately shifted to cyan and GIR let out a painful shriek, making Dib wince. Maybe anything would have been the right thing to say.

"Big-head boy!" he screeched shrilly, tackling Dib and sending the pair of them flying a couple metres across the floor. At the same time, he managed to wind the human below him, and probably inflict some nasty bruises. "Your head smells like tacos! Mmm, tacos..."

Dib would have sighed in relief had he had any breath with which to do so. Instead, he shoved GIR off to the side so he could sit up and draw in a sharp breath, refilling his lungs even though it made his aching ribs protest.

"You can have tacos later, GIR. Right now I need to know if you saw what happened to Zim."

"Master flew away on a cardboard cake made of cheese!" GIR tried to raise and flail both arms at that, but only the right one moved, and this caused him to finally take note of his less than totally functional state. "Aww, my arm don't work."

Dib rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Yeah, sorry little buddy. I couldn't fix it." This actually seemed to give the robot pause for a couple seconds.

"But I needs my arm for making the waffles," GIR said mournfully, then burst into tears. "Why mah waffles? I loveded you waffles..."

Dib quickly slapped his hands over his ears just before the shriek following this statement got loud and high enough to make his ear drums burst, or something. God, didn't this robot ever shut up?

As suddenly as the tears had come, they stopped, and GIR sat bolt upright. "I'm gonna get me some tacos! And maybe a giant burrito."

"No, GIR, wait! What happened to Zim?"

GIR turned back around to face Dib again and tilted his head. "The little green men came an' took him an' they flew away to the moon! I tried to go too but they maded me fall asleep. Banana!"

That seemed to be the final word GIR was going to give on the subject right now, because immediately after he turned around and activated his rockets. Dib could hear a faint cry of "BUR-RI-TOS!" drifting back from the path of destruction the little robot had left when he flew straight through the house. Dib sighed and just hoped his Dad would fix the damage without wondering what caused it.

Little green men? So, presumably, other Irkens. And they probably didn't take Zim willingly, because if Zim wanted to leave GIR behind he would have ordered the robot to stay, or distracted him long enough that he couldn't follow. Basically, Zim knew how to handle GIR. The fact that the Irkens had to "make GIR fall asleep" definitely suggested Zim wasn't part of the decision to leave at all. The part about the moon and the banana didn't make much sense, but that was probably just nonsense.

It wasn't a lot to go on, but it was a start. Maybe. Assuming Dib could trust anything GIR said, and he wasn't sure he could. After all, the robot was utterly insane, and could quite gleefully say anything, related to the question or not. He kind of hoped the robot would be back soon, because if he asked the question enough times he might finally work out what the real answer was, under all the nonsense. On the other hand, GIR had only been active five minutes and already Dib's ears were definitely grateful for the break from the shrill cries and giggles. No doubt GIR would try to go back to Zim first, but after he discovered Zim wasn't here, he'd probably come back here to Dib. Well, hopefully.

In the meantime, he hadn't gotten a decent amount of sleep for days, and it appeared his one possible witness was gone and all he could do about it was to wait. Might a well go catch up on that sleep, then, and try again tomorrow.

* * *

Woo screwing up the ending! Hopefully I didn't screw up GIR too :P Ah well, done now.

Thank you _so much_ to everyone giving lots and lots of great reviews :) All I can say to you is... beware, don't underestimate my sadism :P

More new people... probably next chapter. Think you can guess who? ;)


	8. Old Faces

**CHAPTER EIGHT  
****Old Faces**

Dib didn't see GIR again until after school the next day, while he was walking home. And even then, he heard the insane little robot _long_ before he saw anything.

"... and he fixed me up gooooood and gave me a SAMMICH! KITTY! I'm gonna eat you!" Then that high-pitched giggle again, making Dib wince as he turned the corner and finally saw the robot. Something black streaked across his vision too, but it was gone long before he could work out what it was. Into the bushes or something.

GIR was currently being held by his one good arm. His legs were pumping back and forth as he giggle maniacally, but his feet were suspended a good six inches above the ground, so he wasn't going anywhere. Tuning his shrill cries out, Dib looked over the girl holding him.

She looked to be about his age, very pale, with a quiet air of assurance. Her pitch black hair was very straight and flowed all the way down to her hips, her eyes were a deep violet. She looked deeply annoyed, and every so often she'd wince at a particularly painful scream from the robot she was holding. Dib could sympathise.

" 'Big-head boy'?"

He sighed exasperatedly. He would have taken offense, but it sounded like a quote, probably from GIR.

"My name is Dib, not big-head boy." The girl just shrugged at that, not showing the slightest indication of caring. "I'm guessing it's about the robot, yeah?"

"Indeed. I found him wandering around my b-... home. He told me to take him back to big-head boy. Or Mary, but I still haven't found this... 'Mary'." The girl gave GIR a look of distaste, and dropped him. Immediately the robot started running around in circles with his good arm in the air, bad arm hanging loosely by his side. Dib winced at the sight – he'd really have to get GIR to sit still long enough to take the arm back off. He'd kind of hoped it might still move, but obviously not. He turned his attention back to the girl, frowning very faintly as he considered what she'd just said. Something about her voice... some kind of strange accent... it sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.

"Uh, yeah, that's another weird name he's got for me. Sorry for any trouble he caused you, he can be a bit of a pain. Kind of wishing I hadn't fixed him back up now," he said, snagging GIR's good arm. The robot kept trying to run, but Dib just held on tighter, and eventually he gave up and pulled a lollipop out of his head, finally quiet for the time being as he sucked on it.

Dib was startled when he looked back up from the hyperactive menace to realise that the girl was suddenly extremely close to him, invading his personal space with her mouth near his ear.

"Now, the question _I_ have, _Dib_," she hissed, the tone sending a slight chill of fear down Dib's spine, "is why that idiot robot would say such a thing. We both now he doesn't belong with _you_." Suddenly, Dib placed where he'd heard that voice before, hissing with such menace, and his eyes widened.

"Tak!" he yelped. "What are you doing _here_?" Tak scowled and pulled back away, out of his personal space, which was a relief. Dib wasn't sure he was comfortable with Tak's teeth that close to his neck.

"It's MY turn to ask questions, not YOURS, human _filth_," she snarled. "Where is Zim? What did you do with him?"

"I didn't do anything, I swear! He just disappeared all of a sudden, packed up and left overnight. I just found GIR's beat up body in the bushes near where his base used to be and fixed him up, that's all. GIR probably told you to bring him back to me because he already looked for Zim and couldn't find him."

"Packed up and left? You are saying he left willingly, with his mission here unfinished?"

"I... don't know," Dib admitted. "I don't think it was willing. But all his stuff _was_ gone... except GIR here. Why do you care, anyway?"

Tak snarled and bared her teeth. "I've been trying to track down that _incompetent, useless_ excuse for an Irken, to get him back for _last_ time. I had just arrived here only for him to disappear less than a day after! This is unacceptable! So I've been looking for signs of where he might have gone when I stumbled across his mentally deficient SIR unit."

"Yeah well, that 'mentally deficient SIR unit' probably has the best idea out of all of us of what happened. Not that I've been able to get much out of him, if you think you can get a coherent answer, be my guest. And speaking of SIR units, where's yours?"

"Nearby." She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "What does it matter to _you_?"

"Last time you were here, you tried to hollow out Earth and fill it with snacks. I think I have a right to a little paranoia." GIR chose that moment to shriek and start trying to pull away again, tugging Dib's arm painfully. "Dammit GIR, what are you... what..."

The light-headedness was creeping back. No, no... it wasn't creeping. It was washing him over in a wave, drowning his brain in dizziness and confusion. He looked at the robot he was holding on to, but he couldn't remember why. The thing seemed pretty desperate to be somewhere else, though. Glancing up, he saw the girl across from him looking at him like he was crazy.

"What on Irk do you think you're doing, you stupid human? Who knows where he'll go now! You're the one who said-"

"I'm sorry," Dib interrupted vaguely, brow furrowed in confusion. "Do I know you?"

And that was the last thing he knew before blackness swept over his vision and claimed him.

* * *

Bahahaha. Now I get to the _really_ evil stuff. :D Well, to be fair, not quite, given some of my plans. There's even more evil stuff coming. But now I definitely get to do nasty stuff to Dib's gargantuan head :P

I am a little sad only one person tried to guess the new addition, though, and got it wrong. Zim's still a while away.


	9. Where Am I?

**CHAPTER NINE  
****Where Am I?**

Dib's return to awareness was a slow one, and the first thing that made itself known was the pain.

His head absolutely _pounded_. For a while, the steady throb of pain was his entire world, but fortunately it dulled a little as other things came to his attention. His mouth was dry and felt horrible, and his shoulders were in an uncomfortable position, what with his arms being pulled to wrap around himself so firmly... wait, what? Was he wearing a _straight-jacket_?

He cracked one eye open to take a look and immediately regretted it, as the blindingly bright lights reflected off the blindingly white walls. Even that brief look had sent the light stabbing straight to the center of his headache, and he groaned faintly. Why did it have to be so damned _bright_? Sadists.

After a moment or two, he felt ready to try again, and carefully cracked both eyes open, little more than slits. The whiteness of everything around still immediately attacked him, nearly wrenching another groan from him, but this time he managed to keep his eyes open and glance down at his body.

What he saw made the bottom of his stomach drop out. He _was_ wearing a straight-jacket. He peers around at the whiteness surrouding him again. He'd been somewhere like this before and knew what it was. He was in a mental institution. The question was, what one? Why? Even more importantly, _how_? Last thing he remembered was his brain going all weird again and passing out in front of Tak. Anyone else and he could probably understand being here, but he didn't think Tak would want to go near enough to the Earth authorities in person to do this, especially just to get back at him or whatever.

As his brain finally started clicking fully into gear again, he realised he could hear voices. He hushed his own internal monologue in favour of listening in; whoever it was probably knew more than him about what was happening.

"... think we may finally have found a combination that will work."

"It's been five years, doctor, and this isn't the first time you've told me this. What proof do you have?"

"Well, nothing definitive yet, professor. The regular hypnotherapy, though, seems to be indicating changes in the delusion since we started him on the new meds. It's breaking down. Some of the main figures are missing. The human brain can be very stubborn, though, he's trying hard to repair it. We need your consent to intensify the treatment."

"Is it worth the danger? You _did_ say the drug was still experimental."

"We can't wait for the final studies to get in, the opening is _now_. If we wait before increasing the dose, he'll merely build a resistance to the drug and our chance will be gone.

"Alright. Show me..."

This time, the black didn't sweep over him like before, but slowly lapped up the shore of his mind. Dib slipped back into unconciousness much the same way he'd emerged from it; gradually. The people kept talking for a little bit, but he could no longer find meaning in it. The last thing he heard before unconciousness finally claimed him was the sound of retreating footsteps.

* * *

Ugh, thank you FFN for crashing the entire of my browser at uni where I can't start it up again cause I can't reload all those tabs here so now I need to use dumb IE -_- Anyway

DRAMA! :o Sorry this chapter is so short, but I wanted to leave you guys to stew and explain next chapter :P Enjoy. The next one should be around later tonight or - at worst - tomorrow, anyway. Have fun wondering what happened to poor Dib until then!


	10. Time Limit

Nice long chapter for you to make up for the previous short ones :) Also, explanation. Sorry if it's a little unclear. Enjoy!

Also, to clarify, this is _one_ explanation. "Dib is insane" is still perfectly valid too :P And I intend to keep it that way. Feel free to pick whichever you prefer, you can't get it wrong.

* * *

**CHAPTER TEN  
****Time Limit**

The next time the black faded away again, Dib stubbornly kept his eyes closed. The pain was still there, a dull throb that made him wish he could have unconciousness back. It was joined now, however, by a sharper stabbing pain at the back of his skull, which felt extremely tender where it was resting against... a pillow?

Dib could also feel the sharp, tingling pain of scrapes and a couple more tender spots indicating bruises all up and down his body, too. A body which, at least, didn't seem to be in a straight-jacket or any other kind of binding anymore. _Small blessings, I guess._

"Are you going to sleep _forever_, human?" Dib sighed internally as he recognised Tak's harsh tone; she was pissed and impatient and, despite the very different accent, sounded weirdly like Zim when she was. Probably because pissed and impatient were only beaten out by arrogant whenever Zim talked.

At least Tak was probably still better than a mental institution. _Assuming I'm not still there or something._

"No, Tak, I'm not going to sleep forever, but it'd be nice if you give me time for my head to stop hurting first."

He didn't even have to open his eyes to see the scowl that met that; he could see it quite clearly in his head. "I doubt that will happen any time soon. You hit your stupid, fragile little skull on the pavement when you decided that the middle of the day was a nice time for a nap."

Dib finally cracked his eyelids open, peering out... and seeing basically nothing. "Glasses please?"

Tak handed them over without a word, though Dib imagined she probably rolled her eyes. As he moved his arms to take them from her and slip them on, he catalogued another pain to add to the list. A localied, radiating ache near the crook of his elbow, not big... either Tak had injected something, or drawn some blood.

"Should I be worried about you poking me with needles?" Dib asked, slipping his glasses on and sitting up cautiously, wincing as his head objected to the movement anyway. He blinked blearily a couple times and then, looking around, saw they were in his room.

"I had to make sure you weren't carrying any filthy diseases that you might pass on to me, after that little scene back there."

"So?"

"So what, dirt-boy?"

"Did you?"

When his question was met only with silence, he turned to stare at Tak, startled. When he saw her looking away uncomfortably, shifting slightly from foot to foot, startled turned into suspucious.

"_Did you?_"

"Not... a disease. You're surprisingly healthy for being from such a fragile and useless race."

It was clear Tak had tried to put the usual scorn into the statement, but it felt flat and weak. She was evading the question.

"_What did you find, Tak?_

She scowled. "Nothing important to _you_, human. Even if I told you, soon you won't know or care anyway. It just means I won't find anything else regarding Zim here."

That caught Dib's attention. "You found out why nobody else remembers Zim? But... wait, what? Why would you find that y looking at _my_ blood?"

"Because, stupid dirt-child, you're going to forget him too."

Dib thought back over his recent bouts of dizziness and wished it were harder to believe, but even before he'd passed out they'd been getting more frequent. It sounded far too plausible that they would end up running together until there weren't any moments left where he'd remember Zim.

"Okay, so... what did you find in my blood that's causing it, then? And why isn't it affecting me the same as everyone else?"

"Didn't you hear me, idiot child? You're going to forget everything anyway. Trying to explain it would be a waste of our time."

Dib's eyes narrowed. "It's my mind, Tak, and my blood, and I deserve to know what's going on. Failing that, I would take this opportunity to remind you that I have very, very easy access to water. It certainly wouldn't be wasting your time any more than you already are, which, by the way, if you're so keen to get out of here now, why _are_ you still here?"

"... because GIR won't listen to me."

The statement was barely audible, but Tak immediatelylooked liked she regrette saying it anyway. Dib just stared at her, stunned.

"You're still here because the _insane robot who doesn't listen to anyone_ won't listen to you? Why do you even CARE?"

"Because, insolent fool, I need to get a copy of his memory disk if at all possible. I can't get anything coherent out of him, but I know he saw something, and I need that information. He won't let me anywhere near him, though, since my first attempt to get it out. He says that only you and Zim get to tell him what to do."

Dib snorted. "As if _we_ ever got to tell him what to do." Tak glared.

"Nevertheless, I need to try. For that, I needed to wait for you to wake up. Filthy fragile humans, wasting my time..." The last was a mutter, and Dib wasn't sure he was meant to hear it, so he chose to pretend he hadn't.

"Oh yeah? Well I'm not going to tell GIR to do anything until you tell me what you found."

That made her hiss and narrow her eyes, hands clenching into fists by her sides, but she gave. "_Fine_, dirt-boy," she snarled. "I'll tell you what I found. I found nanobots, specifically, very finely-tuned memory removal bots. They're programmed to high activity shortly after release and then only maintenence-level activity thereafter, for the most part."

They're designed to be used on sleeping beings who aren't actively using the memories stored, so if you were awake when they were released, it would probably have the effects you've noticed. The initial period failed, and they've been trying to catch up ever since. For everyone else, they went in, removed all memories specifically of Zim and Irkens, and let the brains themselves fill in the gaps."

"If they're not very active now, though, how'd they make me pass out?"

This seemed to make Tak look a little edgy, almost... guilty, and she looked away. "I think my presence made it worse. They're also designed to stop outside stimulus from causing the memories to resurface, and no doubt I remind you of Zim, being Irken as well."

"How long until I forget him entirely."

"I don't know." It seemed to pain her some to admit it. "You should have already done so. I can't predict how much longer it will take. Maybe a week, maybe two. Maybe two days. And before you ask, dirt-child, it's too late to get them out of your system. They should run out of power in a month or two, though."

Dib was silent for a moment, considering that. If he could find Zim before he forgot, he should be able to hold on to enough until the nanobots died. If he couldn't... he tried not to think about that.

"Alright, I'll help you get a hold of GIR, then. But only on one more condition..."


	11. Goodbye, Planet Earth

**CHAPTER ELEVEN  
****Goodbye, Planet Earth**

"No! Absolutely not!"

"Oh come _on_ Tak! We can't just _leave_ him here!"

Tak spun back around to face him, hissing, eyes narrowed. "I've already agreed to drag _your_ useless lump of flesh around, _human_. We're hardly going to fit as it is! I'm _not_ taking that crazy piece of trash!"

The current topic of conversation was currently sitting on the floor, looking confused and a little plaintive. "Mary, why's you two yellin' so much? You'll scare the piggies. The piggies are my friends."

Dib paused to look down at the cyan eyes staring up at him like a lost child. And to think this was basically GIR when he was lucid, duty mode aside. Previously, he'd mostly seen the little robot in his manic swings, and spent much of _that_ time wondering why on Earth Zim put up with him.

He'd seen more of this side of GIR lately, though, the child-like incomprehension. Really, an incomprehension he always had, it was just more obvious like this. Dib wondered what it was like inside the robot's head. GIR just seemed to live in a totally different world to the rest of them, and this world seemed to make as little sense to him as his strange comments did to others.

Dib wondered a little if this was something like how everyone else had always seen him, ranting and raving about the paranormal. The thought made him shiver slightly and wrap his trenchcoat tighter around himself.

"GIR... I don't know. Go get a burrito or something. Tak and I are busy."

The robot brightened up at that, eyes flashing nearly white for an instant. "OKAY! And I'll gets one for Master too!"

Dib tried not to flinch. Fortunately, it didn't happen too often, but GIR seemed to be having trouble at times remembering Zim was missing. Dib wondered if he hadn't accidently screwed something up when he reactivated GIR. Or, more likely, failed to fix something. The robot seemed to be getting that lost look more often lately, usually followed by an outburst like that. He was also quiter the past few days than usual. Maybe it was just because Dib was seeing his behaviour nearly all the time, instead of the previous brief glimpses, but honestly he thought it more likely to be because of the severe damage he'd sustained, Zim's extended absence, or both.

He watched as GIR ran off, excited and manic again, before turning back to Tak. "Look, I know he can be a pain, but he has a stake in this too. We can't just leave him behind."

"Your gigantic head will barely fit as it is, human, and we need space for myself and Mimi too. We cannot have him trying to bounce all around the ship too, unless you _want_ me to crash us into your pathetic little sun!"

"Well, maybe we could... I don't know, put him in sleep mode or something until we get where we're going."

Tak frowned, but glanced over at the ship, measuring with her eyes. "I do not see how he will be any use to us idle, _human_... but if it will shut you up, perhaps there won't be harm to put him in storage during the flight." It was a very begruding allowance, but better than nothing.

"Thank you, Tak."

She scowled. "Whatever. Ready yourself. We leave soon, and the trip will not be short."

Really, telling him to get ready was a bit pointless. There was next to nothing he could do; the lack of space meant they couldn't afford for him to bring more than a small amount of food and water to last him the handful of days they'd be flying. He checked and double-checked his supplies, though, packing them carefully into Tak's new ship – new since he'd last seen her, anyway. Then he went and sat on his front doorstep to wait for GIR to come back.

Bored, his thoughts drifted from GIR to Zim's other robot, Minimoose. He wondered where the little floating moose was. He'd even been back again to scour the spot where Zim's base used to be, but hadn't found any sign of the moose. If he'd felt more optimistic, Dib might have wondered if the other robot was with Zim, but truthfully, he didn't feel optimistic about any of this. Everything felt wrong, and it left a heavy, sick feeling in his gut. They'd delayed two days so far while Tak did everything she could to allow her ship to accommodate Dib as well, and every second that passed felt like sand through a timer to him. _How much longer left, before I lose everything in my life that was Zim, even in my memories?_

He knew the risk he was taking, going with Tak. The Irkens presence wouldn't hold the memory loss at bay; it actually accelerated it, as the nanobots worked furiously to respond to the extra stimulus. If he'd thought Tak had any intention of bringing Zim back to Earth, he might have stayed, but the violet-eyed alien had revenge in mind this time, and most certainly wouldn't be bringing Zim back here. Even still, if the nanobots finally caught up while he was still in space... it couldn't spell anything good for Dib. He would have no idea who Tak and Mimi were, and he'd be stuck, lost and alone, in the middle of space. Lightyears from home. But ever since he'd fainted, just after Tak had found him... every night since, as he was falling asleep... he was sure he felt a straight-jacket.

So he had to go, and find Zim again, and somehow that would make it all better. He'd prove to himself that he wasn't insane, and to hell with what anyone else thought.

"Come on, stinking human! It's time to go."

"Wait, what? What about GIR?"

"He came in through the back. Don't worry, dirt-child, _I_ will not break an agreement as quickly as one of your kind. He is powered down and in storage, and we're only waiting on you!"

"Okay, okay! I'm coming." Dib heaved a sigh and stood, looking around him. It might be the last time he ever laid eyes on his own planet...

He shuddered and pushed that thought out of his mind. Hadn't he always wanted to go out there, to see the stars? But now it was upon him, he felt increasingly nervous. So many things could go wrong, and he was on a time limit. He didn't want to think what might happen that he wouldn't ever be back here again, but he knew the possibility waited for him. If he wasn't careful, it would catch him.

Shaking off unpleasant thoughts, he turned and headed back into the house and towards the back.

Towards Tak's ship.

* * *

Whee, chapter! Sorry about the update-less weekend, guys. I spent all Saturday away from home and my computer, and I spent Sunday stuck. For those that didn't spot it already, though, I did write a songfic Sunday and put it up, so you can always go check that out too :)

Enjoy your update!


	12. Small Ship

**CHAPTER TWELVE  
****Small Ship**

"So... where exactly are we going?"

Tak hissed, glaring back at him. "We have barely been flying for five hours, _human_. A little quiet should not be so much to ask, even of _you._"

"Hey, five hours is a long time! I'm bored back here, and cramped, and all I asked was where we're going. I need something to think about." _That, preferably, bears little or no relation to white._ He had to wait some time, but eventually Tak relented with an exasperated growl.

"Mallaria."

Dib waited some more, but apparently there wasn't going to be anything else forthcoming without more prodding. "And...? Why are we going there?"

"I answered your question, human. Shut up and go into rest mode or whatever it is."

"It's called sleeping, and I'm not tired. C'mon, Tak, you're barely even doing anything. Is it really that hard for you to just talk to me?"

"Yes. Yes it is."

Dib shifted a bit, trying to get comfortable. All he succeeded in, though, was earning another glare from Tak. It was hard to remember why he'd tried so hard to convince the Irken to bring him along when he was cramped, sore and, above all, so very horribly _bored_. There wasn't really anything to do back here except think, pester Tak, or stare at the back of her head.

He idly tried to pretend it was the back of Zim's head, but sighed when he realised the antennae ruined the effect. Zim's antennae didn't curl, and Dib wrinkled his nose at the image that presented itself with that thought. No. Curly antennae were so very not-Zim. He imagined Zim with his proper antennae instead, straight and fine. They were so strange – obviously, no human had anything like it – and yet on him, they looked right. _Well duh, Dib. They're meant to be there. Idiot._ He idly wondered what they felt like...

Blushing faintly, he pulled his mind off that track with all due speed. That was the problem with being a teenager. Hormones always meddled in everything. Instead, he turned to the control board. Carefully manouevering around the Irken, he pointed to part of the display.

"What's that do?"

Honestly, after getting his hands on Tak's ship, he knew what most of the controls did already. Tak wasn't to know what had happened to her ship after she'd had to abandon it, though, so she didn't know that.

Tak turned to glare at Dib again, so fiercely he was mildly surprised when he didn't burst into flames.

"It ejects you from the ship. Go on, meat-baby. Press it. I dare you."

"Liar. This ship isn't designed for two of us. There's no reason to have an eject for a second passenger."

"If you think you know so much, why don't _you_ tell me what it's for?"

Dib yawned and settled back in, pulling his arm back. "Actually, I'm pretty sure it's the thruster."

He couldn't help but smirk at the dance of emotions that played across Tak's face. First, her eyes widened in surprise, which was quickly replaced with grudging admiration, and even more quickly with the narrowed eyes of suspicion.

"How do you know that, human?" she demanded.

"Why should I tell you anything, _Irken_? You certainly don't feel like enlightening _me_ about anything."

Tak growled and took another tack. "Well, why did you ask me if you already knew the answer then?"

"Because I'm..." Dib blinked, his brow furrowing as he tried to remember what he'd been about to say. Black prickled at the edges of his vision, and thoughts seemed to swim in his head like he was seeing them through a film of water. Vague and blurry. Where was he...?

The last thing he saw was Tak frowning and rolling her eyes at him.

* * *

Have a... really not very good chapter. Distraction abound and my steam is running a bit low, especially now I have a book handy all the time again now (or more, an eReader) and am thus not forced onto my laptop. Updates are definitely slowing down, but don't worry, I won't stop in the middle or anything. There's not really enough of it left for that to happen :P Hopefully things pick up again soon.

*hides the Neverwinter Nights behind her back and looks innocent*

And yes, we'll get a bit of a look at the mental institution again, but probably only part-chapter this time. That's where the most interesting stuff will be happening for a bit while Tak and Dib are flying around. Unless Tak gets annoyed enough to strangle Dib, perhaps :P Or order Mimi to do it. But that would cut the fic unfortunately short. So I'll try not to do that.


	13. Back to Reality

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN  
****Back to Reality**

Dib didn't want to open his eyes. He knew he wasn't in the ship, he wasn't nearly cramped enough.

Besides, he could feel his arms, wrapped firmly and securely around himself by the unforgiving fabric.

Yes, he knew where he was. He just wished he wasn't.

His head twinged a bit, but it didn't ache like it had last time, so he risked opening his eyes much sooner. The white was still glaring, offensive to the retina, but it didn't make his head swim, so he opened his eyes all the way. He looked around, slowly and carefully, even though everything he saw made him want to close his eyes again and try not to hyperventilate.

He'd ended up in mental institutions once or twice since Zim had arrived on Earth. In one of these secure rooms, designed for those that might try to hurt themselves. It was almost enough to drive a sane person mad by itself. Long stretches of isolation, terrible themselves, seemed like bliss compared to when he hadn't been alone. The constant, unrelenting doubt... no. Doubt implied they might consider he might possibly have been sane in the first place. The utter _assumption_ that he was stark, raving mad, the fact that not one of him could see he wasn't... until he would start to wonder if they weren't right. What if he _was_ mad?

At which point, Zim generally decided he'd had enough of the boredom and broke in to pull him out.

Dib didn't think he'd be coming this time.

He shifted around, trying to get comfortable in the corner of a room whose floor and walls gave slightly under his weight. It was almost _more_ unsettling to realise that this _was_ all in his head. Okay, maybe the nanobots were causing it, but... it was still far too cloe to the raving, delusional madness he'd always been accused of. Still, it was better than the other possibility... that there were no nanobots, and _this_ was what was real... the thought made Dib shiver, ice cold wrapping around his bones in a way that had nothing to do with the room's temperature.

It was eerily quiet. Not even the harsh sound of his breathing echoed back at him, every surface in here sucked in the sound and hushed it. No sound filtered through the door either, the door that obviously _had_ to be there somewhere, even if it merged invisibly into the walls on this side. No doubt impossible to open from here. As if it mattered, bound as he was by the straight-jacket.

Taking a deep breath, he awkwardly started shuffling around on his butt, working his way around the walls, pausing occasionally to feel the wall with his forehead. Yeah, he knew finding the door would do him absolutely no good at all, but he had to do _something_. Anything to keep his mind off the situation. Besides - he flicked a glance to the corners of the ceiling, a look of grim satisfaction settling on his face as he saw them wink faintly - maybe it would get some attention, if anyone was looking at the monitors.

Dib was about halfway around the room when the pain in his head increased sharply, causing it to throb. He was caught between being relieved or grumpy as he felt dizziness wash over him, black starting to form around the edges of his vision. On one hand, it would be brilliant if it didn't hurt so much, but on the other, it meant he'd get to see Tak's ship again and be out of this creepy place. Even if it still didn't quite sit right to be honestly _relieved_ to see an Irken.

Dib aborted his search and sat down, waiting. And waiting. He frowned as the ring of blackness slowly receeded and the wave of dizziness passed.

He was still here, in this blindingly white room.

Even worse, his increased headache hadn't gone away at all – figures – and though the blackness at the edges of his vision were gone, it still wavered slightly. Almost kinda like looking through steam, which was... weird. Even weirder, the room temperature seemed like it wanted to help with that impression. Had his hands been free, Dib would've tried to loosen his clothing against the slowly rising heat. If only.

About two feet away, part of the wall he was leaning against swung open, admitting a doctor. At least, the man looked the part, white coat and clipboard. He even had a nametag on his chest that said "Dr Brown". The doctor crouched down in front of Dib and placed his clipboard down, pulling out a small flashlight.

"Well hello, Dib. Finally back in the world of reality, are we?" he said, reaching out a hand to hold Dib's head still and shining the flashlight in his eyes. The sudden brightness made Dib flinch back and close his eyes.

"What the hell?" Dib wanted to say much more than that, but the sound of his own voice stopped him. It was rusty and harsh, like it hadn't been used in days. It didn't sound like him, and the sound startled him.

"Ah yes, good, definitely back to reality. The new drugs must be working, eh? We'll have to let your dad know. You want to see your dad, don't you son?"

The tone the doctor was using was even and calm... very carefully even and calm, as if he were trying to talk a wild or panicked animal. Trying not to pose a threat. It must've worked, too, or the increasing wavering of his vision had thrown Dib off, because he didn't even notice the syringe until he felt the prick of it against the skin of his neck.

"I understand this all feels strange to you, Dib. Don't worry, we'll have you right as rain soon enough."

The voice seemed to come from a long way away, sounding a bit as if Dib were listening to it from underwater. If the doctor said anymore, Dib didn't hear it as awareness slowly slipped away from him. No longer drowned in black, but muffled by shades of grey.

* * *

Er... yeah, I know I said probably a part chapter. I changed my mind and shuffled some stuff around, so now you get a whole one of mental institution... and maybe a bit more :P

Anyway. Chapter. Enjoy :)


	14. Fever

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN  
****Fever**

Dib was back in the stark white room, only he could have sworn just a second ago it was Tak's ship, with the little Irken in question leaning down over him, scowling. He shivered, on one hand desperate to strip off the stifling straight-jacket, but on the other hand even with that barrier there the air around him was freezing cold.

He wasn't entirely sure what had happened since he'd been sedated. Things seemed to blur in and out of focus. He remembered white-robed men poking at him, asking him questions. He remembered Tak poking at him and making demands. He thought he might have seen his dad, once, but if his dad had just been an ordinary, tired kind of man. He also thought he saw Zim, and GIR. Then they turned into flying pink hippopotamuses, though, so that part probably wasn't real.

There were quite a few bits like that, actually. Strange things that couldn't possibly be real, but Dib was too disoriented and confused to work out why they were there. On the backdrop of the small, white room they were disturbing. Far to much like he was actually insane. Maybe that's what insanity felt like?

Dib shivered some more, curling up tightly as he drifted fitfully in and out of sleep, trying to ignore the rabbits flying through his head.

The next thing Dib was aware of was a harsh, stinging pain on his cheek. He groaned, and curled up around himself protectively.

"What the hell?" he mumbled.

The next thing he was aware of was a harsh shouting, directly in his ear. "WAKE UP, STUPID HUMAN!"

Dib jumped, bashing his head on the ceiling of the ship, wincing and rubbing his head. He felt terrible. His eyes were gummed together, and his skin felt cold, clammy and sweat-soaked. Carefully, he rubbed at his eyes until he could finally manage to pry them open.

Tak was standing in front of him, scowling. "_Finally_. You've been sleeping far too long already. And you stink. We're stopped at a station for now, go clean yourself."

Dib's brain was still a bit fuzzy, but he could still recognise the signs of a fever after the fact. That probably explained the hippopotamuses. He hoped.

"What happened? Did I get sick or something? I felt fine before..."

"How should I know, filthy worm? I don't care about your fragile physiology. I just know your body tried to roast itself for no apparent reason. Eventually I threw a few anti-pyretic medications at you until one stopped it. I didn't want your dead body stinking up my beautiful ship."

Dib hadn't noticed the faint sound next to him until it stopped. Namely, GIR's snoring, which was exchanged for a shrill squeal as he sat up, cyan eyes flashing. "YAAAAAAY! Big-head boy is up! We cn play mose now!" Tak flinched at the harsh sound, antennae pressing flat against her head. Dib just sighed and put a hand over GIR's mouth, which the robot promptly started to gnaw. Dib wrinkled his nose and retrieved the now slobber-covered hand, trying not to think about what could possibly be in robot slobber.

"GIR's active again? I thought there wasn't room."

"There was more room for the hyperactive idiot than your fortunately pathetic, flailing attempt to kill me. For a while there, you seemed to think I was trying to take over Earth again."

Dib winced and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Sorry about that. I was pretty out of it. I didn't hold us up or anything?" He paused as a worse thought came to mind, chilling him. "How long _have_ I been out? How much time do I have left?"

"You've been out a few days. I picked up a PAK locator while you were unconscious and I've been tracking Zim since. We're nearly there. You haven't held us up, but you haven't exactly been _helpful_, either." The last was delivered with an accusatory glare. Dib looked down, feeling a little guilty, but still relieved.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"If you're really sorry, you'll get out and clean that gigantic head of yours like I told you to. You stink, _human_, so get out!"

* * *

Oh dear god the fail. Sorry. I started this chapter near the start of the week and finished it today, and totally lost the flow in between so you get this crap :/

Sorry 'bout the delay, it probably won't be the last. I've been told I need to find a new place to live (in the middle of semester), assignments are being an issue right now and, on top of everything, I got laid low by illness this week. As in, I'm still coughing. Though fortunately, unlike Wednesday and late Thursday, I am no longer actively fevered. And I couldn't afford to miss school either day. Wednesday was interesting :P

No, I did not make Dib sick because I was. That was actually decided before. It's a reaction to the escalating actions of the nanobots, for those who're curious. I would've made Tak say so, but she didn't want to.

Apologies if I did it badly, I've never actually been so fevered I've hallucinated, although even slight fevers will start making my brain fuzzy. The worst fever I ever had, there were no hallucinations but I had the weird and unwavering conviction that the pink fluffy bunnies were going to show up any moment now. And made sure everyone knew that if they did, I was to go to hospital (I was worried my temp was hospital-time high, but we had no thermometer). It was weird as hell, but the bunnies ever showed up so I don't think it counts.


	15. Preparations

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN  
****Preparations**

Dib wasn't sure how long they'd been flying, now. He'd always been so eager to get into space before, but it was hard to remember why now. It was a horrible experience, being cramped into such a small space for days on end... probably days. There was no sun, after all. Or more to the point, there was. Lots of them. What there wasn't was a natural cycling of day and night. Just eternal day within the ship, and eternal night outside of it. The human body hadn't been designed to cope under these conditions, and it was playing merry havoc with his already abused head.

Even worse, they hadn't been able to deactivate GIR again, and in the severely limited space the robot had quickly learned neither Tak nor Mimi would show him the slightest mercy if he dared touch them. So, instead, GIR kept his bouncing, hyperactive insanity mostly confined to the back half of the ship, where it littered Dib's skin with a fine layer of bruises, and then started laying new bruises on top of those.

As a result, Dib was already going more than a little bit stir crazy. His muscles ached, from both the defective SIR unit and from the lack of space to move around in, he couldn't talk to anyone for very long before earning scratches from Tak, and what little sleep he got had to be wrested away from GIR's antics and his own thoroughly shot body clock.

Dib had been engaging in one of those light dozes when something new disturbed him. A subtle change in the vibrations of the ship around him, something totally undetectable until it changed. GIR appeared to still be 'sleeping' himself, gnawing and drooling on one of his feet in the meantime, his useless arm removed shortly before they'd left Earth and almost as glaring in its absence. Neither Tak nor Mimi were watching him, more concerned with the readouts in front of them.

That changed as Dib carefully cleared his throat, though. Mimi turned to rest harsh red eyes on him, a blankly unreadable stare that made Dib squirm anyway and wish the unwavering gaze would gaze at something else. In contrast, Tak barely flicked her eyes at him before turning them back to the screens.

"What's going on? Why have we... _have_ we stopped?"

Again, Tak's eyes flickered only briefly towards him, but she sounded surprised. "Unusually obervant of you, human. Yes, we have stopped. We're nearly there."

"Nearly where? Where are we?"

"I do not know. But Zim's PAK signal appears to be coming from the station ahead." Dib tilted his head a bit so he could see her face better, and saw she was frowning.

"What aren't you telling me?" he demanded, eyes narrowing slightly, suspicious. Dib knew that Tak didn't like him very much, and wondered a bit why she was still putting up with him. Waiting for the other shoe to drop, as it were. _I mean yeah, she'd promised, but..._ _then again,_ he thought, frowning a little himself. _Can I actually think of a single time Zim promised something, called a truce, whatever, and went back on it? Sure, every truce he'd whine and moan and kick up a fuss, but he never broke his word. Integrity seems an odd trait for a race bent on galatic conquest, but maybe that's all it is._

"If I told you, Earth-boy, I would no longer not be telling you," Tak pointed out dryly. The she hesitated a bit, uncertain. Dib was about to press the point again when she continued.

"It is... an odd place to find his signal. It bodes, as you humans might say. I have come much too far to stop now, though, so Mimi and I will wait for a good time to sneak aboard and then we shall scout the station and, if possible, retrieve Zim."

"I'm coming too," Dib interjected firmly. _Definitely no way I'm leaving it all to the woman... Irken bent on revenge._ After a moment of thought, he added, "And GIR."

Tak had looked fit to burst at the first comment; by the second, she did.

"WHAT?" she screeched, antennae flat to her skull. "You _cannot_ be serious, Earth-worm. Why on _Irk_ would I even _consider_ taking either of you?"

"Would you really rather leave me and GIR here alone in your ship for however long it takes you? I could probably work out how to pilot this thing away from here, you know. I can even read some Irken. God only knows what GIR could do, left to his own devices."

Tak twitched and snarled, but twitching and snarling didn't make the point any less valid. "_Fine_," she finally hissed. "We will _all_ go. But you had better not get in my way, _human_, or I will kill you!"

"Yeah, whatever. Death threats stopped working on me a long time ago. So, what am I gonna need to know?"

* * *

Sorry, it's another short chapter, but at least somewhat better than the last one and not quite as long between. I think. And sorry if the time skip left it a touch disjointed, but there was really nothing interesting to happen in the meantime and, honestly, it likely would've worked fine anyway if the last chapter hadn't been so bad :P

We're very nearly to the end, now. Just a few chapters left.


	16. Zim

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN  
Zim**

Dib shivered faintly and curled up tighter around himself, eyeing the slowly but steadily approaching station on the screens. His stomach was so full of butterflies he swore it was going to up and fly off at any moment now, and the constant churning and flip-flops weren't helping to dispell that impession any.

Tak's attention was focused firmly on the screens and controls in front of her, watching hawk-like to stop the ship straying even slightly from what was planned, but Dib could see the occasional shiver in her too, causing her antennae to vibrate and try to lie closer to her skull. In order to help get close to the station without detection, Tak had tried to cut down on every conceivable emission as much as possible, or anything that might make them stand out from the empty space around them. Obviously, she couldn't get anywhere near optimum for that purpose without killing them and being unable to control the ship, but the heating and other life support – including atmosphere – were down as low as they could both survive, and she tried to avoid firing the engines as much as possible, using only the weaker docking thrusters to correct course where necessary.

They might still look pretty different compared to the space around them, but anomalies happened now and then – or so Tak assured him – and they certainly didn't look like a ship now either, to most scanners. Especially with a cloaking field up as well, and the usual basic signal broadcasting switched off. Full radio silence. It had been a toss up on that, in the end, because while most background signals could be switched off independantly, the basic one that identified them only to other Irken ships could not be turned off without turning off all communications equipment entirely; at the switch, as it were. So it meant they couldn't tap into station communications, which meant if they _were_ discovered, they wouldn't have any warning at all.

All in all, the precautions weren't comfortable. But it was better to be cold and a little short of breath than to be a fine mist of particles.

Dib flicked his eyes over to GIR, seated next to Mimi. He'd gotten a smack around the head when he tried to cuddle the other robot like a teddy bear, so now he just had his arms wrapped around himself, leaning on Mimi in relative safety. Even GIR seemed to understand the gravity of the situation, as he was silent and not bouncing around at all for once, just sitting and staring at the screens along with everyone else in the ship. His eyes weren't even red. Then again, you'd have to be deaf, blind and several kinds of both oblivious and stupid not to sense the chilly, heavy feeling in the air. Maybe even GIR wasn't insane enough to be unaffected.

Dib had to swallow a shriek when he was pulled out of his thoughts by a loud _clank_ that sent reverberations all through the ship, shaking the metal around him. Tak spared barely enough time to shoot a glare at him for the slight squeak he couldn't keep back before her fingers were flying across the controls, the hardened tips making small _clack clack_ sounds as they did.

This was it. They were here. Even now, the ship was carefully slicing a hole in the station's hull, sealing it off before any of the air inside could escape.

Mimi was the first out, closely followed by Tak. A few moments later, she was waving them out into the corridor.

"Zim's signal isn't far," she murmured quietly. Even so, the sound seemed to carry a disturbing amount to Dib's adrenaline-heightened hearing. Should the corridor be this empty? Surely not. It was a good thing it was though, really. Tak and Mimi could have passed themselves off as meant to be there, potentially, but GIR could not, and Dib couldn't be seen on the station at all. Tak's eyes bored into his, holding his gaze firmly. "Stick with me and don't mess this up, _human_. I will not be imprisoned by my own kind through your incompetance."

Dib just nodded silently. He didn't trust his own voice right now.

"Good." And then Tak was off, down the hall with a speed that surprised Dib, given that her movements were also totally silent. He struggled to keep up, wincing at every little noise he made that seemed, to his mind, to echo for miles down this barren, empty metal hallway.

That was another odd thing. From what he'd seen, colour was ubiquitous in Irken architecture, usually pinks and reds and purples. This corridor, though, was a plain and utilitarian grey, all the way along. Except for where the equally plain lights reflected brightly off the walls and floor as they moved, making parts of the corridor look blindingly white. At least, Dib hoped it was just reflections.

Dib glanced back at GIR, amazed at the robot's continued silence, only to note Tak or Mimi had, at some point, taped up his mouth. GIR seemed cheerful enough anyway, following along behind them without really seeming to be paying attention to any of it. Well, that explained it, anyway.

They passed only a scant few doors as they walked, glass surrounded by metal. Peering briefly into one or two, Dib saw the rooms on the other side were massive. After a few more of these doors passed, Tak waved for him to step back and wait before she silently slipped through, leaving him and GIR alone.

Turning and pressing his back to the wall, Dib slid down until he was sitting on the floor. The chill from the metal almost immediately soaked through his clothes and into his skin, making him shiver slightly. Next to him, GIR sat down too, the loud metal clang the action produced making Dib glance around nervously and hope Tak wouldn't take too long.

Bemused, Dib watched as GIR peeled the tape off his mouth and started eating it. Figures.

"What we doin' here, puppy head boy?"

Dib winced and twitched again as the sound echoed through the silent corridors.

"We're going to get Zim back."

"YAAAAAAY! I misseded the Master."

"Shut up GIR," Dib hissed, trying to hush the insane robot. "If you're too loud... they'll take Zim away and you'll never see him again." _Actually, they'd take _us_ away, but close enough._

GIR's eyes and mouth made wide, matching O's, and he nodded solemnly, falling into blessed silence. Dib let out a faint sigh of relief.

Fortunately, Tak was as quick as he could have possibly hoped for – aside, perhaps, from being quick enough to forstall the noisy exchange altogether. Only another moment or two could have passed before she poked her head back out the door, motioning them both into the room and doing something to the pad next to the door, no doubt locking it. _Is it just my imagination, or does she look... kind of pale?_

"There was one scientist in here. He's unconcious now. Zim is this way, come." Tak didn't provide any more than that curt set of statements before turning her back on Dib and GIR and hurrying off, obviously trusting them to follow. Or possibly just not caring if they did.

As he followed, Dib finally took the opportunity to look around the room. The first glance was enough to make him blanch slightly and decide it hadn't been his imagination. As he continued to look, he started to feel ill.

This room appeared to be slightly smaller than some of the others they'd passed, but was full of a grid of floor-to-ceiling tubes, made of something transparent like glass, or plastic, and filled with a strange, greenish fluid. And inside the fluid... Irkens. In every tube, an Irken, bodies riddled with tubes and sensors. At least... Dib assumed they were all Irkens. In some cases... it was a bit hard to tell, now. In one or two cases, it could well have been anything at all.

Dib did a quick count. Maybe... thirty tubes? Thirty-five? Somewhere around there. As he did, he desperately tried to push back the thought pounding insistently against his mind. _And if Zim's PAK is _here_..._

He dropped all attempts at denial, however, when Tak waved vaguely at a tube, averting her eyes, before turning hurriedly to a console.

Inside was Zim. He can't have been here long yet, no more than a week or two, but already... Dib could see open wounds criss-crossing his torso, and his legs appeared to be crushed and useless. One antennae was broken off just above the base, leaving only a stump that, even as he watched, twitched madly for a moment before pressing firmly against the little Irken's skull once more.

If Dib thought he felt ill before, it was nothing compared to now. He could even see a bone sticking out of Zim's arm, he realised with horror. And the green fluid he was suspended in had a curiously marbled look, darker swirls surrounding the invader. Dib had the sinking suspicion that it was probably blood.

He glanced over to where Tak was reading somethig off the console, and realised she'd gone even paler than before, a sickly light green tinged with grey.

"What is it? What does it say?"

Although the question was a quiet one, Tak was still startled enough to jump noticeably, antennae quickly flicking back flat against her skull as she looked at him.

"It... they're... it says..." Tak paused a moment to take a deep breath, and when she spoke again, the near-stammer as gone. "They've... been trying to research techniques for controlling Irkens. It says we're going to run out of planets to conquer soon, to keep us quiet, and they..." She swallowed. "It says they intend to be ready."

* * *

Woo long update. It might have been longer, too, but it was starting to stretch out a bit in terms of the actual time it was taking to write, and I didn't want to risk losing the flow again or depriving you guys of update too long, so I decided to take this brief pause here. The next chapter will likely still look much like a continuation of this one, though, given there will be no in-story time lapse at all.

Also, I can reasonably confirm now that, including epilogue, there are only two chapters left to go!

Enjoy!


	17. Last Stand

Okay guys, I am terribly, hugely sorry about the long hiatus, and I hope you won't all come after me with pitchforks :) Please check my author profile for more details if you care why - I'll spare the long explanation for outside of the story. If the hiatus has totally derailed my writing of this and ruined it, feel free to take extra apologies from the apology jar on the way out.

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN  
Last Stand**

"What... what do they mean, 'ready'?"

Dib's voice sounded very faint in the large room, echoing throughout as the sound bounced off the tubes of grotesque experiments around them. His stomach churned as he carefully averted his eyes from them, regretting his question immediately. He probably didn't want to know.

He was afraid he already might.

"That's all the summary says," Tak replied, sounding and looking as ill as Dib felt. "After that, it just goes into technical details about the experiments. They're all numbered, I don't even know which one Zim is. I... I don't think I want to know. Seeing the result is bad enough." The small Irken was quivering, Dib noticed, and any trace of the contempt she'd had for him was gone, washed away under the onslaught of what they'd found.

Dib forced his eyes back around to Zim, placing a hand lightly on the transparent material separating them. "Can you get him out? We need to get out of here before they find us."

"I think so," Tak said, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "Stand back, it might be a bit messy."

Dib moved back a couple of paces, and watched as Tak rapidly typed a few commands. When her fingers at last stilled, she glanced anxiously over at the tube. At first it seemed that nothing was going to happen, but after a moment or two, the level of liquid in the tube started to lower, and Zim lowered with it. Once it hit about halfway, the enclosing material started to lift from the bottom, allowing the rest of the goop to gush out and slowly ooze toward the drains in the floor. Dib barely managed to move forward fast enough to catch Zim as he, too, fell out of the tube, his weight no longer supported by the liquid that had held him suspended.

As Zim landed in his arms, Dib heard a sickening crack and a soft cry of pain and closed his eyes, biting down hard on a lip as he forced back the bile that threatened to rise. The Irken was light, much too light, and felt much thinner and smaller in his arms than he should. Dib didn't even want to think about what additional damage might have been done to the already-brutalised body he'd just caught... additional damage done at his own hands... Dib forced himself to remember that it had to be better than letting him land on the hard floor, or leaving him here. It had to be.

Dib's eyes flung open again at the feeling of a feeble movement in his arms. Zim's head had tipped toward his, eyes slitting open just slightly. Dib could never tell if those too-alien eyes were focused, nevermind on what, but it was clear that even if Zim could see him, it would be only with one eye. The other was blackened and dull, the outer layer of it pierced and a slight trickle of some fluid oozing out of it. Dib could only hope it was the fluid from the tank.

"D... Dib-human...?"

Zim swam within Dib's view as his eyes watered at the tiny, feeble voice, interrupted with a cough that was equally weak. Oh God, what if they'd come all this way, only for Zim to die...? How could they possibly heal so many injuries? It was miracle enough that there was any life left in so broken a body at all...

Dib's head ached ferociously, and it suddenly seemed that the swimming of his vision was not only because of tears. His head ached, and white started to encroach on the edges of his vision.

_"That's it." _The voice seemed to be coming from miles away. _"You can do it, Dib. Destroy the focus, and the rest will fall apart. Let go. Come back to us now."_

He shook his head violently, refusing to give in to the visions again, not _now_, when Zim so desperately needed his help.

"I'm here Zim," he said, his vice barely above a whisper. "We're gonna get you out of here, okay? It's all going to be okay."

Zim tried to laugh at that, but it spluttered out to nothing very quickly.

"Do not... try to lie to Zim... filthy human. It's... not going... to be okay."

Harsh, damp breaths punctuated the sentence, and Dib gently pulled the little Irken closer, trying not to jostle him too much despite muscles that seemed to have turned to jelly, all weak and shaky.

"It's not a lie! Right, Tak? We're going to go now, and we're going to make Zim better. Right?" He looked up at the purple-eyed Irken pleadingly, but she was avoiding his gaze and refused to look at him, or answer.

Suddenly her head jerked up, looking over at the door, her antennae perked up and quivering. The hiss that escaped her mouth seemed to be a short, sharp word in Irken - no doubt invective. Her reason for cursing was made obvious, however, by the next thing out of her mouth.

"They've found us! Get behind that tube, Dib, hide!" As she said it, Tak herself hid behind the console, pulling out a gun with a grim expression on her face. Dib squirmed around to be fully behind a tube just as he heard the door hiss open. Now even he couldn't miss the stamping of rapid Irken feet on the metal floor as they rushed into the room, taking up position on the other side.

As the first shot ricocheted off Tak's console, she quickly poked her head out to return the favour. Even GIR, his eyes gone bright red, was returning fire.

Dib just looked down at the frail Irken in his arms. Zim was smiling faintly up at him, looking so very weak. He started to say something, but it was too faint... over the noise of gunfire and the shouting, Dib couldn't hear him...

But it looked something like... _goodbye..._

* * *

Just the epilogue left! Hopefully it won't be too long in coming this time!


	18. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE**

Everything seemed to slow down for Dib. Sounds became muffled, and he barely noticed the gunfire being traded back and forth, some of it mere inches from his face. He thought he heard someone screaming and babbling, but it was so far away and faint that he had no idea who.

The only thing that existed for Dib in that moment was Zim's one good eye... and the light that slowly, ever so slowly, faded from it, leaving that eye as glassy and dull as the blackened one.

Dib felt as though he were swimming, in something much thicker than water. Everything was so slow, so far away... even his own thoughts.

_No... this can't be happening... Zim... he can't be... no..._

Even the dull pound of his head seemed slow, but as first tears and then encroaching whiteness obscured his vision, he welcomed it. He didn't want to fight it anymore... didn't want to believe in a world where Zim had just died in his arms, looking so tiny and broken and fragile...

He didn't even want to know which one was real anymore.

* * *

As Dib slowly swam out of the darkness, away from the horror and pain, he found his vision still obscured by tears. Harsh sobs wracked his chest and his voice was hoarse, but the station and the horrors on it were gone. It felt strange to find comfort in a straight-jacket and blinding white walls, but Dib nevertheless clung to them - mentally, anyway - as if his life depended on it. Or perhaps, his sanity.

"Ah, finally back with us I see, Dib. I knew you could do it." As Dib's vision slowly cleared, he was greeted by the friendly, smiling face of Dr Brown once again. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, I think," Dib croaked out. "Sore."

Dr Brown nodded sympathetically. "That's to be expected. You were thrashing around quite a bit there. It must have been hard for you to let go of the world you'd created."

Dib just looked away, trying not to let tears well up again. _Zim..._

"Do you think you could handle a couple visitors right now, Dib?" the doctor asked, his voice gentle. "I know you've just been through a lot, but... well, they've been waiting for us to finish to see you, and it might help you to have some family around right now..."

Dib's head snapped up. "Family...?" What family did he have that would want to come visit him? At all, much less in an asylum?

Dr Brown nodded, seeming to come to a decision, and got up to crack the door open. "You can come in and see him now," he said, his head poking out the door, then he stepped back a few paces and held it open.

The sympathetic, reassuring smile he directed at the boy on the floor was totally wasted. Dib's whole world narrowed down to the sight of two people in the doorway, his mouth gaping. The man was smiling at him, his hair a little disheveled. Behind his lab coat hid a young girl... well, not that young anymore. Her head poked out, managing to look both wary and eager at the same time.

"D-dad...? Gaz...?"

His father smiled even more broadly at that, and even his sister managed a hesitant smile at that.

For the first time in a long time, Dib felt like he might be home.

* * *

Hooray! I even managed to get it all finished tonight. :)

Don't bother asking whether Dib was really insane all along or if he's just insane now... that, my friends, is for you to decide. Both views are equally valid, just depends how happy you like your endings I guess.

I hope you all enjoyed.


End file.
